


hand in hand

by thunderylee



Category: SixTONES (Band)
Genre: Canon Universe, Fluff, M/M, hand-holding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-18
Updated: 2014-07-18
Packaged: 2019-01-15 17:13:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12325344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thunderylee/pseuds/thunderylee
Summary: Juri likes the way it felt to hold Taiga’s hand.





	hand in hand

**Author's Note:**

> reposted from agck. written for shiritori.

The dressing room isn’t the best place to plan a sleepover, at least if one intends to just invite one specific person, but luckily Shouki declares “Gamushara jumping team only!” and saves Juri from a swarm of juniors infesting his bedroom. His mother wouldn’t notice the difference between two and twenty boys in her house after all of these years of five sons and their friends trampling through, but that’s not the point.

All Juri wants is to be alone with Taiga. It makes him shudder to even think about, the lingering tingles from the weight of Taiga’s hands on him when it was Juri’s turn to lead their uncoordinated team through what felt like an obstacle course with their ankles all tied together. It had something to do with synchronization, but Juri couldn’t think straight with Taiga clutching onto his waist, shoulders, arms…

At one point he grabbed Taiga’s hand with his own in an attempt to focus, but that seemed to make it worse. While Taiga didn’t pull away, he didn’t return the gesture either, though that could have been because Juri wasn’t leaving him much room to move.

Mostly Juri just wanted to talk to Taiga about it, see if Taiga felt anything weird like that and decide whether to explore it or not, but Juri’s brain is always more logical than what actually comes out of his mouth. Especially when there are other people around, particularly these three who are so far apart on the sexual spectrum that Juri’s amazed they can find common ground at all.

Predictably Shintaro’s the one to wrinkle his nose when Hokuto starts bragging about the girls he’s laid, which Shouki encourages out of pure fascination with the concept, and Juri tunes them out when Hokuto happily starts oversharing all of the details for his halfway attentive audience. On the surface, Taiga appears indifferent, but Juri notices the tips of his ears turning red underneath all of that hair and loudly announces that they’re going outside for a cigarette.

“I don’t smoke,” Taiga tells him on the way out, but that’s his only protest to being manhandled through the main floor of the Tanaka residence.

“Me neither,” Juri replies. “Stole one of second-bro’s when I was fourteen, hacked up a lung, and never touched it again.”

Taiga’s sporting a small smile the next time Juri looks at him, which is once they’re all the way in the back of the yard by the shed. It’s dark, but Juri knows the area like the back of his hand and guides Taiga away from the dips in the ground and overgrown branches to where there’s a log big enough to sit on.

It’s not until they actually sit down that Juri realizes that he’d been guiding Taiga by a firm grip on his hand. He abruptly lets go and starts to apologize, but Taiga makes a discouraging noise and grabs Juri’s wrist, using absolutely no force aside from keeping his fingers and thumb together.

“Sorry,” Juri grumbles, though he’s not sure whether he’s apologizing for letting go or for doing it in the first place. Both times.

“It’s okay,” Taiga says. His soft, gentle voice seems to flow with the light summer breeze and Juri feels oddly seduced by the sound alone. Then Taiga holds his hand properly, his thumb absently stroking Juri’s skin, and Juri feels things he hasn’t yet felt as an adult, or as much of one as he is right now.

“I like this,” he blurts out, because it’s all he can think about and Taiga deserves to know that much. Juri can’t see his face but he imagines it’s as red as his ears were previously, uncertain to how Juri would react to his boldness, but brave enough to do it anyway. That’s Taiga in a nutshell, for as long as Juri has known him.

“Me too,” Taiga replies, squeezing Juri’s hand enough to intensify those feelings tenfold. “I can’t see your face.”

“Give it a minute,” Juri advises, because his eyes are already starting to get used to the dark and he can see the silhouette of Taiga’s hair start to visualize before him. It makes Taiga look a bit like a lion, which has him stifling a laugh that Taiga has to feel through their joined hands,and he rushes to add, “Your hair looks like a lion’s mane like this.”

Taiga’s laugh is just as gentle as his voice, as gentle as his touch as Juri starts moving his own thumb in return. It’s incredibly erotic for such an innocent gesture, making Juri’s blood rush through his veins and his heart pound in his ears like it was a more physical encounter. He feels an attraction that he doesn’t quite understand, because it’s not just in his pants and Juri doesn’t actually know what to do when the end result isn’t an orgasm.

“Does it bother you, what they talk about?” Taiga asks suddenly, pulling Juri out of his trance. “I mean, it doesn’t exactly bother me, but I feel sorry for those girls whom Hokuto just speaks of as…I don’t know. Conquests.”

“He likes them sometimes,” Juri jumps to defend his friend. “He just doesn’t understand his feelings yet. All he knows is how to…you know.”

“Oh, I know,” Taiga says. “I hear about it all the time.”

“Have you ever…?” Juri starts to ask, then shakes his head. “Sorry, that’s none of my business.”

“I have,” Taiga answers. “A couple years ago, with someone from my old school. It was really, really weird.”

“I know what you mean,” Juri says, his voice softer than he intends because he _understands_. Or more accurately, he’s found someone to whom he can relate on this level, as to not feel completely inexperienced or even prude compared to everyone else who’s either doing it, talking about doing it, or adamantly against doing it.

“Doing that stuff just isn’t a big deal to me, you know?” Taiga goes on, his voice continuing to caress the insides of Juri’s ears and further please him aesthetically. “I just always thought it came second to feelings like love and trust, which I don’t even really understand yet.”

“Yeah,” Juri agrees, his brain melting even more at how alike they are, how much Taiga just _gets_ him. “I’ve done some things, but I’ve never felt anything like—”

He cuts himself off before he says _like this_ , but even in the dark Taiga’s eyes reflect his understanding, maybe even his own feelings. He shifts his hands so lightly that the graze of fingertips along Juri’s palm are enough to make him shiver, fingers threading together naturally and leaving Juri with such a pleasant buzz that he doesn’t realize what they’re doing until he’s already squeezing back.

“Is this okay?” Taiga asks, and Juri hears _Is just this okay?_

“Yes, of course,” Juri rushes to agree, and Taiga’s smile is worth the uncertainty that penetrates his bliss because he can’t predict the future, can’t guarantee that he won’t feel differently after time, after he grows up a little more and figures out who he is.

“Don’t think too hard about it,” Taiga says, and all of Juri’s apprehensions just wash away with his next breath. “We can talk about it, if you want.”

“I don’t even know what to say,” Juri tells him honestly, heaving a sigh that has nothing to do with exasperation and everything to do with his surplus of feelings. “I can’t think straight right now.”

“Appropriate choice of words,” Taiga comments, and Juri laughs so hard that it seems to stomp down all of his doubts and insecurities.

After that, it’s easy to just speak his mind. It doesn’t matter that his thoughts are out of order and he keeps tripping over his words because Taiga just nods as he listens, addressing Juri’s concerns and offering some of his own, and Juri feels really good about the conversation even though they don’t exactly reach any concrete conclusions.

Somehow knowing that he and Taiga are on the same page is enough to give him confidence in this…whatever it is. Their linked hands serve as an anchor even through the most embarrassing admissions, and the next thing Juri knows is his head resting on Taiga’s shoulder, their bodies naturally gravitating closer during such a personal conversation.

“Can I touch your hair?” Juri asks, because he feels like he could say anything right now and Taiga won’t think he’s weird or get mad. “I’ve always wanted to.”

“Yes, please,” Taiga answers.

Juri lifts his free hand and slowly brings it to Taiga’s face, pushing the bangs out of his eyes and lingering to thread his fingers through the soft strands. Taiga’s head lowers obediently, leaning into the touch as Juri strokes his hair over and over, mesmerized at how Taiga’s eyes flutter shut.

“I’ve liked you for so long,” Taiga says awhile later, his voice almost a whisper. “I’m so happy right now.”

That feeling floods Juri’s body once again, but this time he knows what it is. “I’m happy, too.”

Lips brush against his, so lightly that he thinks he’d imagined it until he opens his eyes to find Taiga right there, looking sheepish like he’d done something wrong. Juri doesn’t know how to tell him that it’s more than okay, so he just tugs on Taiga’s hair and pulls them back together, kissing back this time, and Taiga makes a faint noise that has Juri losing all concept of time and place.

When they finally trudge back inside, hands still locked together, Shintaro is stretched out across both Shouki and Hokuto because he sleeps like an octopus, but at least everyone seems to have their clothes on. Juri’s bed is thankfully empty, so he flops down face-first as his exhaustion hits him all at once. He doesn’t even know what time it is, only that it feels like he was outside with Taiga forever, even if it wasn’t nearly long enough.

He hears rustling around on the floor and peeks one eye open to see Taiga trying to squeeze between Hokuto and the wall. “What are you doing?”

“Sleeping?” Taiga suggests, making a face when Shintaro manages to fling an arm over Taiga as well.

“Get up here,” Juri grumbles, too tired to be nice about it, but Taiga just smiles as he gladly abandons the pile of bodies on the floor and crawls under the covers next to Juri. He’s cool to the touch despite the summer weather and Juri curls right up to him, sharing his body heat as much as he can.

Taiga wraps an arm around him and it just feels right, their heartbeats slowing to the same rhythm that serves as a bassline to Shouki’s snores. Juri’s fingers gravitate toward Taiga’s hair again, pushing it behind his ear and playing with the long strands in the back, and Taiga makes a pleased noise as he falls asleep.

In the morning Juri’s going to have a lot of explaining to do, but for now he’s comfortable here with Taiga, holding him close as they sleep, which is far more wholesome than any stories he’s heard from Hokuto the lady killer.


End file.
